(MENAFN) The German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said that retail sales in the country edged down in April, Xinhua reported. Retail sales in Europe's largest economy dropped by 0.9 percent in April compared with that in the previous month, according to the Wiesbaden-based office. In the January-April period of 2014, sales in retail sector grew by 1.2 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, Destatis said. Destatis has confirmed that German gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.8 percent in the first quarter, leading the recovery of the European economy.